


Cadences

by Spazzo47



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: F/M, Newsroom Fanfiction Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23057719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spazzo47/pseuds/Spazzo47
Summary: This is for Lilac Mermaid's February 2016 fan fiction challenge -- Pets.  No pet actually ends up in the NEwsroom (at least in this story...), but the rules say that someone needs to be "be getting/losing/living with/thinking about a cat/dog/fish/bird/gerbil, etc. "  And it does that.
Relationships: Don Keefer/Sloan Sabbith, Will McAvoy/MacKenzie McHale
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Cadences

Mac never appreciated having relationships with her direct reports as much as she did on Thursdays. It made Thursday her favorite day of the week. At least so far. Today is only her fourth Thursday in a job she still thinks of as Charlie’s. As she does most days, she tried to get in early to organize herself, an effort that got hijacked by Will… being Will. She tried not to think about how much crazier life will be when the baby comes, and tries to focus on getting her husband used to what a new normal means to them. 

Her Thursday doesn’t really begin until ACN morning ends and she walks down to the morning show’s bullpen to meet with Brenda, their EP. She goes to the offices of her direct reports instead of hving them come up to see her because she wants them comfortable and God knows she feels more comfortable in a newsroom than in that small apartment she inherited as an office. Her first week, she learned that Brenda doesn’t drink coffee, a fact that she thought made Brenda a heretic to the news profession. Brenda explained that she has to sleep while her kids are in school and then she can run errands and be back at work by 1AM. Mac tried to remember what she did when she worked as producer on a morning show after college. That felt like a lifetime ago. 

After she finishes talking with Brenda, Tony and Maria, she heads down to the primetime bullpen with the hope of getting to Jim before the first _News Night_ rundown. If she waits too long, then Will assumes they’re having a meeting that he should attend. She’s had to dismiss her husband from this meeting twice, and after that, he has sulked for the rest of the day, until they got home and she explained that she has to meet with people to whom she is not married. She knew Will would not adjust easily, but sometimes, between the drop ins to tell her what he learned in his book about the baby and his looking lost without she or Charlie being available every minute, she just wanted to have Jim lock him in his office until show time. 

She tries to sit in on her primetime shows’ run downs and get a meeting in with Don and then Elliot before having her lunch one on one with Will. A meeting that in her mind is optional. While she tries to give her directs time to socialize as well as tell her how they need her support, because Will’s her husband, they don’t need a formal time for that. However, because he’s Will, he insists that he be treated like her other employees, which means he demands a scheduled half hour on her schedule every week. 

Today she had to change her times around. She missed the _News Night_ rundown while dealing with an issue on the afternoon set. She grabbed something from a vending machine and raced to Sloan’s office for their 1:00. Sloan has been acting weird since Charlie died, so after asking Sloane to fill in for an anchor in the afternoon, Mac asks what’s happening in Sloan’s head. Sloane said, “Charlie died, Mac. Someday, I’m going to die and before I do, I want a pet wallaby.” Mac didn’t know exactly what to say to the idea. She assumed her mouth hung open, so Sloan added. “You know, it’s like a small kangaroo. I’ve always wanted to go to Australia. But I don’t think Don’s apartment will let us have a wallaby.”

Sloan and Don moving in together was news to Mac. They’d been dating, but she didn’t think they were serious. In fact, last time she heard, Sloan was absolutely trying to stay away from getting serious. “Woah, woah, woah. Are you moving in with Don?”

“Well, not right now, but I assume that’s what will happen. That’s what’s supposed to happen right? We kind of casually date and then we move in together and then after dragging our feet, mine more than his, we’ll reluctantly get engaged and then married and then we’ll get old and die.”

Mac had to take a second to catch her breath. Sometimes talking to Sloan was exhausting. “Is that what you want?”

“Aren’t you paying attention? I want a pet wallaby.”

“Forget about the fucking wallaby for a second. Do you love Don?”

“Well, maybe not like you love Will. I mean, we don’t have the long history and I haven’t cheated on him or anything.”

Under her breath, Mac said, “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“We have fun together and he seems to keep his apartment clean, so we can divide chores easily. I think.”

“There’s more to relationships than having fun and doing chores.” Sloan shot Mac a confused look. “I mean, there’s work. I had to cancel my one on one with Will, a meeting that is completely pointless since we basically have it at home, on the way home, every lunch we spend together and every time he drops into my office. But I know that he’s in his office right now, staring at your office door sulking because he doesn’t get to talk to me.”

“He’s such an ass.”

“He is.” Mac took a second and thought about her husband. “But he makes me better. And he makes me want to be better. And even though his constant interruptions to my day are… fucking annoying… I can’t imagine looking forward to arguing with anyone else. There’s no one else I have ever wanted to go home with or take care of when he’s sick or fight over where he puts his underwear at night.”

“Really? I always thought he went commando.”

“Wardrobe won’t let him.” Mac thought about what she wanted to say. “Relationships should be fun, but the person you spend your life with should be someone you want to be with during the good and bad. He has to be somebody that fits into your life. Anything less isn’t worthy of you.”

“And you know that because of, whatshisname?”

Mac rolled her eyes and nodded her head. “Partly. He wasn’t worthy of me, and it took too long for me to figure it out. But I also know it because of Will. Because I understand the contrast of what life should be like and what it shouldn’t.”

“So, you think I should break up with Don.” Sloan didn’t ask it like a question, but said it like a death sentence.

“I think you should think about what you want, and where he fits into that. Not what you think you’re supposed to do.”

Sloan took a second to think. “I want a house outside the city where I can have a wallaby. And if Don wants to be part of that, then, maybe we’ll let him.”

Mac smiled at her friend. “Sounds like a plan. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to make up with my husband who thinks I betrayed him by meeting with you and Jim and skipping my meeting with him.”

“He’ll get over it.”

Sloan watched Mac walk to Will’s office, Sloan smiled when the door closed. 

When Mac heard the door click shut, she asked Will, “You okay?”

Will looked hurt. “I missed you at lunch.”

“Sometimes you will. But you’ll always get to talk to me when we go home and at breakfast and when you annoy me in my office.”

“You know you’re in my office right now, and I could be in the middle of something.”

“You’re not, Jim’s reading your copy.”

Will looked at her, “You talked to Jim too?”

“No, I just know there isn’t much news and you like having your script written by lunch so that you can find some inane reason to come up to my office.”

Will smiled at how well his wife knew him, even if he would never admit it. He turned in his chair, inviting her to his lap. “I miss having you next door. I miss bouncing ideas off of you.”

Mac settled on his legs and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I know. I still feel like I need to come in to give you statuses of how things are going. But I think I like this better.” 

Will moved his head to give her an exaggerated “Huh?” look. 

Mac continued, “I used to have you 40 hours a week.”

“You haven’t worked an 8-hour day in your life.”

Mac concentrated real hard, desperate to not use her fingers to count how many hours they each worked, but gave up and said. “But you did.” Will looked at her outraged, then shrugged his shoulders in concession. “And every time I came in here, I had to wonder if it was okay and if I was going to be in the way.”

“Since when have you have ever cared about that?”

“Shut it, I’m trying to make a point. I don’t have to wonder where I fit into your world anymore, and that’s better. And before you start questioning my priorities for today, you are the most important thing in my life, but not the only thing in it. It’s probably good for us to have different things. As long as at the end of the day I get to go home with you.”

Will didn’t know where any of this came from and thought his wife tried to tell him something deep. He knew he’d contemplate it later and then ask her what she meant tonight. But for now, giving her a soft peck on the lips and holding her against him for as long as he could was enough. 

Believing that Will would behave for the rest of the day, Mac excused herself to meet with some of the mid day team. The early shows were ending and the later shows just starting, so she can get each of them before they go home. 

At 8:00, Mac finally can go back to the office. She wonders if it will ever feel like hers and not Charlie’s. Or if she will ever stop comparing her performance to her mentor’s. As she looked up at the TV, she saw her husband’s face telling her and a million and a half people about the news in the world. And when he finishes, she will meet him in his office and they will go home. It’s the only part of her day that makes sense right now. But it’s enough. 


End file.
